The subject of biometric identification and authentication is often accompanied by staunch skepticism and privacy concerns. The ever-blurring line between human and computer interfacing and the prospect of having another unique attribute of our being digitized is worrisome, but chances are, you’re reading this article on a device that you’ve authorized to use your fingerprint or face (or both) to authenticate you.
Biometric authentication is happening now
If you’re a frequent traveler enrolled in TSA Pre-Check, Global Entry or any expedited screening programs, images of your fingers, palm, eyes and/or face have been captured for this purpose. Likewise, your voice may be used to verify your identity to your financial services provider when you call them. The short story is that biometric authentication is pervasive, and so ingrained in our routines as to be forgotten.
Amazon recently debuted a palm-reading interface at select Whole Foods stores, part of their Amazon One payment system, which has been in use at a number of Amazon’s Go and Book stores in the Pacific Northwest for some time now. Soon enough, a wave of the palm will be as second-nature as entering a pin code or tapping an app to pay for your groceries--and enter your office.
Kogniz, the leading AI-driven workplace safety and wellness platform provider, is deep into lab testing its hand recognition (palm scan-based and other hand identifiers) technology in our flagship EntryPoint app, which can leverage PPE detection, self-survey and a multitude of options for interfacing with corporate access control, time management and HR information systems to name a few. The future is already here.
But why hand identification, specifically?
- Hand identification (Hand ID) is less intrusive than facial recognition--you won’t have to worry about someone using your palm-likeness to create DeepFakes or discovering your presence at certain places/events (without your consent) by combing surveillance data.
- It’s economical--there are no consumables such as fobs/RFID badges, their associated lanyards & sleeves or the thermal printers and programmers to generate them--not to mention, these are regularly lost or misplaced (posing a serious security risk, since your company logo is undoubtedly emblazoned upon it), must be issued and revoked with personnel changes and they represent another potential vector for bacterial and viral transmission, whereas palm reading is touchless. In large organizations, the annual spend on these antiquated systems and consumables alone exceeds 6 (significant) digits.
- Hand ID, or hand recognition, is also ecologically-minded. Consider the environmental impact of all of the aforementioned badges and fobs. That’s a lot of plastic and metal entering the waste stream.
- Hand ID is more reliable, because you won’t forget your hand at home or allow someone else to borrow it, so it is more reliable and secure than badges and fobs are, because they are routinely shared.
- Hand ID is incredibly easy to integrate into existing systems. Kogniz uses its acclaimed computer-vision technology to acquire and analyze hand images with unparalleled accuracy, without the use of additional equipment. Kogniz EntryPoint will include this capability, and Kogniz Open API affords seamless integration with access control and time management systems. Those choosing to leverage their included screening capabilities now have an incredibly secure, low maintenance way to authenticate, clock-in and screen employees for symptoms, and PPE in the same time it would take them to swipe a badge.
Contact us to learn more about how to create safer, smarter spaces for your employees and visitors.